Re:Painting a Scout, Repairing your own rig

[Weidenheimer Allan P <weidenhe@domain.elided>]

Well, I've painted a few rigs, including the bed of my pickup,
a 66 Mustang, and several repair jobs.  I can tell you that a
$400 job from Macco won't be very good quality.  Auto paint
is expensive to start with, upwards of $120/gallon, though
a Scout won't take a gallon to paint, you also will pay more
buying it by the quart.  If you have a compressor and a
reasonable quality spray gun, you can probably do as good or 
better for about $200 in paint, thinner/reducer, and sandpaper.
Let me tell you, the final job is very dependant on the amount
of prep work you do.  Things that look great in primer can often
look like hell when you spray a gloss finish coat on, as it will 
accentuate every sanding scratch, ripple, etc.  Regardless of 
who does the final paint, it will look better if you spend as much 
time as possible sanding everything well and performing any 
dent/ding repair.  For $400 at Macco, I doubt they do much beyond
washing it and wiping down with wax and grease remover.  I have 
used the special surfacing primers, followed by a mist of flat black, 
which then gets sanded off, using a sanding block.  Areas that still 
show black need more work, as they are low spots.  If you go with 
enamel for the topcoat, try to do it in a clean garage, wash the floor,
and put up paint dropcloths over EVERYTHING that you don't want
overspray on (I have experience in this one, trust me).  I also
replaced the back door with a panel that I bolted a fan blowing air in,
and used a furnace filter over the fan to make sure that air was clean.
The problem is that enamel dries slowly, and dust and bugs like to land
in it during that process.  You could do it outside if you don't have any 
neighbors too close (they wouldn't like the overspray on their cars,
I'm sure, and No, I don't have experience on this one!).  You can also
read up on the subject at the library, which is how I started.

Believe it or not, white is one of the most forgiving colors.  Dark, gloss
colors are the least forgiving when it comes to imperfections.

On repairing your own rig:
Tom H., thank you for a great post.  I plan to hang that one up at work.
There is much to be said about being self sufficient, IMHO.

Allan Weidenheimer
72 1210 Pickup

P.S.: I've also heard of folks using a case of Krylon with OK results
for something that is going to be scraping down trails, but I don't
recommend this for a street driver rig.